Indie Review: Which

Which is a short horror game created by Mike Inel. It isn't exactly a new release, but after playing it I simply couldn't resist sharing this title with the rest of you. Read on to find out why you should play this.

Quick Rating

Worth The Time?

Yes, there is no doubt about that.

Things Loved

It's creepy as hell, the horror element is so subtle yet fantastically executed, the game is very atmospheric, it has two endings and both are great, it's very unpredictable, the use of sound is excellent, the visual style is very unique and interesting, it supports low-rest, hi-res and red-cyan 3D.

Things Hated

The visuals can be too blurry or bright which can be difficult on your eyes.

Which isn’t exactly a new release. In fact it came out at the beginning of 2010, but after seeing it featured recently on an indie gaming website, my love of horror and creepy stuff got my curiousity going. I’m talking about genuine horror, when I say love. Not Dead Space 2 crap, where monsters are more scared of you and your laser beam super cannons than you are of them, or F.E.A.R. 2 where you can slow down time and obliterate armies of whatever comes your way, repeating this until the game remembers it needs to try and scare you so it throws redundant blood splatters or flickering lights at you, or shows you the same ghost for the fifth time. I love horrors like Slender and its variations, Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Silent Hill: Downpour, where your mind does the work, the scares and freak-you-out parts aren’t cheap and the horror knows when to be subtle, how to create atmosphere, how to build up suspense and how to create magic with its visual and audio experience. I am very happy to say that Which is the latest addition to my list of great horror games.

Which is a short horror game created by Mike Inel, and the idea of the game is that you’re trapped inside a reasonably small house, and you need to interact with the environment and find what you need in order to escape. The problem is that the things you need are behind locked doors, and you don’t really know what you’ll find behind them, and you may not exactly be alone in the house. The concept is simple and effective enough, but what makes it fantastic is that nothing is explained. There’s no reason given for anything in the game, it has to be interpreted, and that enhances the scare factor and meaning. We fear the unknown, and the things we can’t bubble wrap and slap labels on, and that’s exactly what Which exploits. All you’ll be doing is searching an empty house, looking for things of interest, ways to progress. But the atmosphere is excellent, and the horror element is so subtle that when you finally see or experience something scary it’s a total shock to your system. Which is just damn freaky, because it’s completely unconventional and unpredictable. It’s totally unique.

Rather than dark corridors, flickering lights, blood splatters, severed limbs or blatancy, Which relies on subtlety, ambiance and silence. There’s no music. No screaming in the distance. No indication that you’re in a horror game. There’s just quiet, the sound of your footsteps, maybe some crickets as you near a window or door, or the odd sound here and there. It’s so natural and flowing that you don’t know what you’re getting. And the game’s visuals greatly contribute to its unique scare. It’s black and white, but the lighting is excellent. Things will appear dark and uninviting when you’re far away, but as you get closer they will light up in dull grey and white. Admittedly, the visuals can sometimes be too bright or blurry, and as a result a little unpleasant on the eyes, but it works for the most part and it won’t take away from your enjoyment of this game. It can also be a bit hard to find things sometimes, but you’ll just need to persevere and keep looking, because generally the items you need have a white glow.

Which is pretty damn creepy when it gets going. It’s a total shock, and the build up is excellent. There are two endings to the game, and both of them are freaky as hell. If you manage to get to the end, you’ll experience a few seconds of perfection where the game completely messes with your mind, and you’ll fall victim to a wide range of emotions that give you exactly what you played this game for: fear, panic and uncertainty. Immediately after completing the game, I sat stunned for a few seconds, experiencing very much the same kind of magic that Slender left me with. Then, I jumped right back into it, determined to discover the alternate ending and the thing I missed. But, the best part for me is that the endings aren’t just for scares. They mean something. You can either interpret it logically, or you might decide that there’s a great message in the game if you think out of the box a bit regarding what the endings leave you with. So, hats off to the developer, because he crafted a little experience that freaked me out quite a bit, but also left me with a profound meaning I’m more than satisfied with.

Which is an awesome game that uses subtle horror, ambiance and silence to achieve something genuinely special and unique. It’s creepy as hell once you get into it, and the execution is so damn good that I’m more than happy to add it to my list of the best horror games I’ve played. The beauty of it is in its execution, and in this Which is just brilliant. If you like horror, then play this now.